Snow-plow and ballast-spreader.



B. F. LAWRENCE. SNOW PLOW AND BALLAST SPREADER. APPLICATION FILED 0GT.11, 1913.

1,125,560 v Patented Jan. 19, 1915.

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" ATTDRNEIEL B. P. LAWRENCE.

SNOW PLOW AND BALLAST SPREADER.

Y APPLICATION FILED OCT.11,1913.

mg mg Patented Jan. 19,1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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ATTDRNEYEI.

B. F. LAWRENCE.

SNOW PLOW AND BALLAST SPREADER. APPLICATION FILED 0GT.11,l913

L1Q5 56 Patented Jan. 19, 1915.

3 SHEBTS-SHEET 3.

WiTNEElElE I INV NTUR ATTORNEY-"I! s LTED" STATES :PATENr 'oncn."

BENJAMIN F. LAWRENCE, F BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSl IGNOR 0F ONE-HALF '10 WILLIAM L. GROBE, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

SNOW-PLOW AND BALLAST-SPREADER.

To all whomiit may concern:

- Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. LAW- nnNon, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of' Erie and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Snow-Flows I a d BallasteSpreaders, of which the following is a specification. j

This invention relates generally to track cleaners of the kind commonly known as snow and ice fiangers, and more particularly to an improvement in a device of this character shown and described in Letters Patent ofthe United States, No. 1,065,453, granted to me June 24, 1913, although the same is not limited to use in this connection. Said patent shows a pair of forwardly-converging plows or blades movable vertically on curved guides and actuated by pneumatic cylinders and. pistons, the blades terminating at or near the sides of the railway car on which they are mounted.

It is sometimes desirable in plowing snow to throw the same a greater distance from the track than is possible with blades which terminate at the sides of the car, and also to spread or level ballast to a greater width or distance from the rails than can be aciary plow and ball-ast-spreadin complished by the use of such blades.

It is the object of my present invention to produce an apparatus having. this in-' creased capacity, and the invention consists in providing the car with foldable auxilblades which in their operative or unfol ed position form extensions of. the main plowblades and which can be folded or drawn inward to clear switch stands or the sides of bridges and raised to clear railway switches, frogs and crossings inmoving the car from place to place.

iary blades unfolded 4: is a cross section on thesame line, showing saidblades folded. Fig; 5 is a diagrammatic view of,

Specification of Letters Patent.

the controlling valve and associated parts.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the auxiliary blades and its supporting and operating parts, showing the blade completely-unfolded. Fig. 7 is a similar view showing the blade partly folded.

Similar characters of reference indicate.

corresponding parts throughout the several are shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, reference being made to the aforesaid Letters Patent for a full illustration and description thereof. 3, 3 indicate the pneumatic or pressure cylinders by which said blades are respectively actuated, and 4 .indicates the compressed air reservoir mounted on the 'car Patented Jan. is, 11.915.

Application filed October 11, 1918. SeriaI No. 794,731.

and with which opposite ends of the pressure cylinders 3 are connected'by pipes 5,

6, 7, 8v and 9 through a suitable controlling valve 10 by which the pressure fluid may be alternately admitted to and exhausted from opposite ends of the pressure cylinders 3, to raise or lower the blades.

The particular construction of the arts so far described constitutes no part 0 the resent invention and may be modified, if

constructed in accordance with the aforesaid Letters Patent.-

Arranged at opposite sides of the car are a pair of auxiliary snow plowing and balesired, although such parts are preferably last-spreading blades 11 which in their operative position are adapted to form wings or extensions of the. main blades 2 and, when not in use, may be swung inwardly under or adjacent to the sides of the car platform tov clear switch stands, bridges and other obstructions along the railway in transporting the car. In orderto do efi'ective work these auxiliary blades, like the main blades, are vertically movable so that they may be lowered. below the heads of the rails when in operation and elevated,

when not in use, suiliciently to clear frogs, switches and crossings., To meet theserequirements, the auxiliary blades arecapable of a combined vertical and horizontal movement .which may be effected -by any suitable means butfis preferably accomplished by the devices shown in the drawings which are constructed as follows: Each auxiliary blade is hinged or pivoted by means of straps 12 to a vertical post or guide rod 13 rigidly secured to the adjacent outer sill 14: of the car platform and l0- cated in such position that when the auxiliary blade is unfolded it stands in line with thecompanion main blade 2-to form a continuation thereof, as shown in Fig. 1. At its lower end the post 13 is secured to a longitudinal supportin bar or frame 15, the opposite end of w ich is carried by a rigidhanger 16 depending from the adjacent car sill 14. The two longitudinal bars 15 at opposite sides of the car are firmly braced bytie bars 17. The auxiliary blades are capable of sliding vertically on the posts 13 as well as swinging hOllZOIltally thereon.

Jo6perating with each auxiliary blade is a vertically swinging member or rock frame 18 arranged lengthwise of the car and preferably of skeleton and approximately triangular form, as shown in the drawings. The inner rod or shaft 19 of this frame is arranged lengthwise on the, adjacent supporting' bar 15 and journaled in suitable bearings 20 carried thereby. Preferably the rear end of the shaft 19 bears against an abutment 21 which receives the thrust of the triangular rock frame and the unfolded auxiliary blade when in service, thus largely relieving the post 13 fromstrain. The outwardly extending arm or portion 19 of said frame adjacent to the front end of its shaft 19 engages under a lifting lug 22 projecting rearwardly from the auxiliary blade near the .post 13, so that upon raising said rock frame the blade'is raised while upon lowering said frame the blade is allowed to descend by gravity to its operative position, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 6. The folding and unfolding movements of each blade are effected by the .angular outer portion 23 of the rock frame 18 which embraces a guide or bar 24 arran ed on the rear side of the blade. This gui e is suitably secured, to the blade at its-up er and lower ends and is separated therefrom by suflicient space to permit theportion 23 of, the frame 18 to slide along t e guide fro end. to end thereof. As best shown in 3 and 6, this ide is graduallycurve upwardly and orwardly or,t o ward the post 13. By this construction and arrangement when the rock frames 18 are swung rom their horizontal to'their u 'right osition the draw the auxilijary b a es wit .them, fol 'ng them under the car ody, ,as.shown,by full lines in Fig.

' auxiliary blades are raised on the posts 13 by the initial movement of said frames and are swung inward by the subsequent or continued movement thereof. 1

To reliably retain the contracted front portion 21 of each frame 18 in engagement with the lug 22, the latter is provided at its free end with a depending pin 25 which engages the adjacent angleof saidzframe, as

best shown in Fig. 6.

Any suitable means may be employed for actuating the rock frames 18,- but this is preferably done by compressedair under the control of the same valve 10 which controls" the movement of the main blades 2. F or this purpose, the rock frames 18 are.con-

nected by links 26 with opposite arms of a transverse rock lever .27 pivoted at 28 to a bracket 29.secured totheunderside of the car platform. Theprojectiugh pper end of this lever is pivoted at 30 to a piston rod 31, the piston of which is fittedyin .a pneumatic or pressure cylinder 32- arranged transversely underneath the car. latform. .Compressed air is alternately a mitted to opposite ends .of the cylinder 32 by branch. pipes 33 and 34 of the-pipes 7 and 8.. The controlling valve 10 is ofthe four-way type and maybe of any appropriateponstruction. In the example, shown in Fig. 5, 1 pipes 7 and 8.1ead to connections 35 and 36 at diametrically opposite sides of the valve case, while the reservoir pipe 9 and an exhaust pipe 37 enter intermediate connections 38 and 39 of the valve case. The valve plu has a, air ofports 40 and 41 so arrange that w en the lug is-turned to admit pressure to one end of the cylinder 32, the air is allowed to exhaust from the other end thereof. In the instance shown in Fig. 5, the port 41.registers withthe pipes 7 and 9, while the port 40 registers with .thepipes 8 and 37, supplying. pressure to thelower end of the cylinder 32, as viewedin said figure, and exhausting. the air at its other end.

In the use of the .appara tus, when it is desired to plow snow or spread ballast a greater distance from the track than .can be done with themain blades 2, the auxiliary blades'll are lowered and unfolded by turning the controlling valve 10 to the proper position to admit air-to. the hand end mamas of the cylinder 32, whereupon the lever 27 is swung to the position shown in Fig. 3,

to admit air to the opposite end of the cyl- Ill 1681 32, whereupon the ro ck frames 18 are [swung to their upright position, thereby first lifting the auxiliary blades and then swinging them inward as hereinbefore described. In this position, the blades are elevated sufiiciently to avoid all obstacles,

- such as switches, crossings &c. By providing the car with such auxiliary blades or extensions of the main blades, the swath or snow-plowing and ballasting spreading cav pacity of the apparatus is materially in-" creased, accomplishing a large amount of work in a given time and effecting a great saving in labor and expense.

When both the main and the auxiliary blades'are arranged to be controlledby the same valve, such as the valve 10, it is 'desirable to provide means for looking or blocking the piston rod 31 against movement, so that i desired, only the main blades .may be lowered and the folded auxiliary blades left undisturbed This is advantageous where a number of parallel tracks are arranged so closely together that snow or ballast would be thrown upon an adjacent track with the auxiliary blades unfolded. The lock shown in the drawings consists of a vertically-swinging latch 42 piv- 'oted at 43 to the underside of the car track, and adapted to be swung down in front of the outer end of the piston rod, thereby blocking the same and preventing the piston of the cylinder 32 from actuating the rock lever 27, notwithstanding that pressure is supplied to said cylinder at the same time a that pressure is supplied to the actuating cylinders 3 of the main blade 2. This latch normally clears the end of said piston rod, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. The latch may be operated from the top of the car platform by a vertically-sliding bar 44 passing through the floor thereof and-connected by a bellcrank 45 and a link 46 with an arm 47 of the latch. A suitable catch or other retaining means may be used, for holding the bar 44 in its upper and lower positions. Such a lock is also desirable even if separate valves be employed for controlling the main and the auxiliary blades, as it prevents the auxiliary blades from unfolding accidentally when the car is backed, avoiding breakage thereof which might otherwise result in case the rear ends of the blades should catch on the ballast or snow and become unfolded.

' v I claim as my invention:

1.- The combination ofaa railway car, a plow-blade arranged at the side thereof and pivotedto swing toward and from the car,

the blade being movable vertically on its pivot and provided with a lifting-lug, and a rock member arranged to engage said lifting lug and having a sliding connection with the blade to fold and unfold the same.

2. The combination of a railway car, aplow-bladearranged at the side thereof and pivoted to swing toward and from the car, the blade having a guide 0 its rear side and a vertically swinging act ating member engaging said guide to fold and unfold the blad t e. 3. The combination of a railway, car, a

plow-blade arrangedat the sideithereof and p,

pivoted to swing toward and from the car, the blade being provided on its,rear side with an upwardly and forwardly-curved guide bar, and a vertically-swinging actuating member engaging said guide bar.

4. The combination of a railway car, a

plow-blade arranged at the side thereof and pivoted to swing toward and from the car, the blade being vertically movable on its pivot and having on its rear side a lifting lug and a guide trending upwardly toward its pivot, and a vertically-swinging rock frame embracing said guide and having a part arranged to engage said lifting lug.

5. The combination of a railway car, a plow-blade arranged at the side thereof and pivoted to swing toward and from the car, an approximately triangular frame pivoted underneath the car to swing vertically, a guide carried by the blade and engagin said frame, and means for operating sai frame.

' 6, The combination of a railway car, a plow-blade arranged at the side thereof and pivoted to swing toward and from the car, a vertically swinging frame pivoted underneath the car and engaging said blade to fold and unfold the same, and an abutment pressure cylinder and piston for operating said blade, 9. foldable auxiliary blade arates the auxiliary blade, to lock the latter 7 ranged at the rear d of 6 ain blade, :2 in its faldedposition. 1 1 10 Pressure y r nd Pis n a ma ing Witness my hand this 9th day of October, the auxiliary blade, upitury means for c011- 1913. v

' trolling the passage of the pressure fluid to BENJAMIN FL LAWRENCE.

and from both of said cylinders, and means Witnesses: for blocking the outward m0.veme nt of the C. F. Gum, piston of that pressure cyhuder which oper- W. L. GRQBE. 

